Thursday, March 17, 2016

March Madness...

Well it is March and it is madness...more than just the NCAA tournament. This month construction has begun on the school building and Tim has been crazy busy with well drilling and getting a pump put in and having a tower built to hold the water tank. He also is speaking at a different church every Sunday this month and next. Jurnee broke her collarbone a couple weeks ago...as I said it is March Madness here in Lichinga.

We had a wonderful month with my parents and enjoyed a holiday in Tanzania with them. It included some unexpected adventures along the way. Including our safari vehicle rolling in the Serengeti, lions in our campsite, unbelievably crazy roads, driving through rivers, and having to tow a fallen tree out of the road in order to pass. And then another 3 more peaceful weeks here in Lichinga doing projects around the house and just hanging out. Traeger also got baptized while Grandpa and Grandma were here. He wanted Daddy and Grandpa to baptize him. It was very special as he made the decision totally on his own and wanted Grandpa to be a part of it as well. It was such a great time and many memories made.

Some prayer points for this next month are:

* Tim is working on getting electricity hooked up on the land at the school to run the pump, but there have been a lot of complications. It looks like it is going to be a lot more expensive than we anticipated as he may have to buy his own transformer. Please pray for a cheaper solution.
* For Tim's many speaking engagements in the next two months.
* For Jurnee's collarbone to heal well and that she would not re injure it.
* For Julio and Eugenia, a couple Tim and I have been doing marriage counselling with. They are making progress, but it is hard work. Pray for patience and perseverance in their relationship.

Here are a few photos of our time with my parents...

Traeger's baptism in a river in Muapula, which is a village about 4 hours from Lichinga, where friends of ours live.

It was a very special to have Grandma and Grandpa there to share this experience.

The girls with Grandma and Grandpa

This is our vehicle after it tipped over. My mom and dad, Traeger and I were all in the vehicle. It was quite scary, but thankfully no one was seriously injured. My mom got a cut on her forehead and the rest of us had some pretty nasty bruises, but it could have been so much worse. The driver of the vehicle just lost control in the mud and went up on the bank and tipped the car. They got us a new vehicle and we didn't miss any of our safari time.

We saw this lion lounging in a tree. She was watching a herd of buffalo coming across a field. It was something we had not seen before.

A beautiful bull elephant.

We had a pride of 15 lions come and surround our vehicle while in the Ngorogoro Crater. They were so close we could have touched them.

This picture is NOT zoomed. I took this out the window as this young male was walking right next to our vehicle. It was really incredible.

Here are some of the 15 stopping to drink from the puddles in front of our vehicle.

The pride of 15 lions coming down from the mountain.

A gorgeous giraffe.

We also had the privilege of seeing 6 black rhino in the Ngorogoro crater. They are very endangered due to poaching for their horns and this is one of the only places you can still see them in the wild.

A beautiful African sunrise in the Serengeti.

We also happened to be there during the great migration. Almost 2 million wildebeest migrate through the Serengeti every year and as far as we could see in every direction this is what we saw as we drove for more than an hour.

A pod of hippos...there were too many to count.

This was the largest group of giraffes we saw. There were about 32 in all.

We spent a couple of days at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was beautiful.

Towing the tree out of the road on our way back to Lichinga.

You can't beat the wildlife in Africa! One of the privileges of living an working in Africa!

1 comment:

I LOVE reading your blog posts! I know it takes time to put stories and pictures together, but THANK YOU for doing it... I love seeing your kids, getting glimpses of your (crazy!) experiences, and reading how God is working. So much happening for you right now - and your family will be in our prayers for sure. I am THRILLED Traeger made the important step of baptism and that your parents could be there... precious moment! And, for serious, lions and elephants right next to you?! I will never visit a zoo and be awe again. :) LOVE you guys!